Month: September 2011

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Andrew Breitbart is incensed at a Twitter tweet I posted, pointing at a Little Green Footballs post that cited some ugly and grossly racist comments on Breitbart’s site. Given his history — especially in the Shirley Sherrod affair — I found myself sadly unsurprised that he’d provide a platform for such stuff, and expressed that opinion.

In a series of reply tweets, Breitbart said a) he provides an un-moderated platform; b) he loathes the racist stuff; and c) he doesn’t tolerate this at all. He also suggested — I’d love to see evidence for this — that left-wingers are using his open comment system to leave at least some of the hateful comments in question. Meanwhle, his supporters, who are legion, demanded to know why I don’t denounce the comment garbage elsewhere. Well, I do and have; my special contempt is reserved for unmoderated anonymous comments where the purpose is to attack someone, which can turn threads are cesspools — and I am constantly surprised that big media sites, especially, allow their comment threads to be so putrid. This stuff is a pox on all of us. I don’t know why Breitbart allows it at all, given his expressions of disgust (which in fact makes it surprising, not unsurprising, that he does, even briefly) at the hateful stuff, but I will take him at his word that he doesn’t like or endorse it.

BUT: Whatever his policies may be, and however wrong I think he is to have unmoderated comments, Breitbart was absolutely right that I should have contacted him first before I pointed to the LGF posting, and asked him to respond. In not doing that, I wasn’t fair to him (and I’ve deleted my original tweet). He’s made it clear, moreover, that he does not share the beliefs of the hateful people who make those comments. I apologize.